Black Phantom
by Silverstride
Summary: This takes place after Black Butler 2, and there is another mystery... Ciel and Sebastian feel obliged to solve this mystery, but it merely gets odder and odder after each turn of events...
1. Chapter 1

A/N – So a friend of mine had asked me to write a fanfic, and plus I've been wanting to write one for a while, so here it is! I wanted to post it tonight, and it took me over an hour to get onto , then figure out how to post. I started writing this during computer class a while ago last year, so forgive me if there are mistakes, or if anyone seems ooc. This is dedicated to the person that asked me to write this, and my friend that had introduced me to Black Butler in the first place. This is... technically my first fanfic ever, I hope I did well on it. :)

So this takes place after Black Butler 2, in London, etc. Review if you wish, and enjoy~

Prologue

Outside of the large home, frost began to renew itself from the year before, capturing precious life in its icy claws and caging it, not letting to set it free, unless a warm breeze of warm, of kindness set them free. Not everything is good, though; there would be no good without evil...

As he opened his ruby hued eyes, the young boy, (neither considered a child, nor a man) looked out the window, where he saw frost gripping at the fragile life outside. Outside of his crystalline window, he would often see birds, usually sparrows chirping or trilling merrily outside, with their tiny talons perched upon his windowsill. Today was not the case. Instead, Ciel found that there was no song from outside, and that everything was frozen, as if they decided they were too wary to sing.

Ciel was still lying in his bed, but he was discomforted by the fact that he was feeling dizzy. It wasn't normal. It felt as if thousands of invisible hands were dragging him down to the pit of the earth. Or perhaps the gravity was growing stronger? _You are not ill, _he confided in himself, dismissing the feelings all together and brought his thoughts back to the mysterious disappearance of the birds outside.

Birds such as waxwings, redwings, or even fieldfares in the winter were usually present; the fact that he saw none as of this moment was quite odd. The young boy stretched slightly, peeking over the window ledge and into the garden below. As Ciel gazed out at the garden, he saw that the Phantomhive garden was spectacular, in its winter affair, dressed for the occasion with silver-alabaster lacing, with either vibrant hues of red or purple surrounded by dark vivid emerald jeweled leaves. Even in the snow, everything was in its place; everything was straight and trimmed to perfection.

Ciel threw his thicker winter covers over his legs, then turned so his legs dangled off of his bed. Dust flew in the air at first, but then it settled quickly. More recently, Ciel had been waking up himself, and had been dressing, while Sebastian had been doing other tasks, such as fetching the daily paper, or making tea; all of the more important affairs. Ciel moved across the room with effort, tugging at his shirt in the closet to off of the hanger. He leaned on the cabinet for a moment, taking in a couple of deep breaths. This wasn't right; the comforting ambiance of his room was off.

As he slid his hand into his crisp shirt sleeve, Ciel then briskly finished dressing, then strode out the door, heading towards the study. His shoes made tapping noises that echoed in the entire building as he moved across the handsome colored carpet. He then spotted some of his other servants, who had bunched together in a group, discussing something amongst themselves. When his servants greeted him, then he nodded towards them, but he wanted to read the daily paper, the one that would likely be on his desk before he arrived. He acted quite indifferently though inside he felt horrible.

When he opened the doors with each hand on each door, Ciel automatically assumed that Sebastian was here; he was half right, for the daily paper was present, on his desk. But Sebastian wasn't. The young boy's ruby eyes settled; it wasn't urgent that he would talk to Sebastian; it could wait until he would arrive.

As he settled into his chair, Ciel then unfolded the crisp newspaper, and began to read an article, titled: Odd? Or Is There a Real Reason? _Scientists do not know how to explain the odd migration patterns of all the animals this year. They have all disappeared at once, even the species of animals that stay all year round. One scientist, by the name of Mr. Straughtsburg. had exclaimed that this change was astronomical, and wouldn't happen unless something was wrong. "After all," he said. "-animals do sense dangers long before humans can." Most of the other scientists dismissed this hypothesis, and merely said that it was due to a bit of odd migration, but that nothing overall was the matter._

_Last night, a man exclaimed that he had sworn he heard something scraping across the ground, groaning. And so he came outside to see where the sound was coming from, but he only found himself standing in some type of mist. He could've sworn that he heard wings. (Continued on A6) _

Ciel then flipped the paper rapidly to look for the next part of the article, but focused his attention on a sound of wheels, something that had entered the room, along with Sebastian.

"Tea, My Lord?" Sebastian asked quietly, tilting the silver colored teapot slightly and letting the tea pour from its spout, into a flawless white porcelain tea cup perched on top of an alabaster hued saucer. The warm water made a soft gurgling noise as it began to fill the small round cup, aimlessly transforming into puffs of mist rapidly setting themselves free and began to float towards the crystal-like window, where it promptly misted the view of the outside world. Ciel took the small cup, gripping it lightly, raising it to his lips, and then placing it back on top of the saucer, with a small clink. "Sebastian." He greeted lightly, glancing up from his daily paper. "Have you read the newspaper, Sebastian?" He asked smoothly, in a business-like tone, closing the paper that he was reading, and then looking up towards the tall man with the spotless white gloves.

"Yes. It seems as if there is a new case on our hands, My Lord," Sebastian replied as he casually walked towards the window and swiftly wiped it with a handkerchief, his back towards Ciel. "What makes you say that, Sebastian?" Ciel replied sharply, folding up the paper into a smaller piece and placing it on his dark mahogany colored desk. He then turned towards his butler, his ruby hued eyes gleaming slightly from underneath his dark colored hair. As usual, one of his eyes was covered, shielded from the light, still holding their secret agreement.

The corners of Sebastian's mouth curved upwards slightly, as he turned to face Ciel Phantomhive. "The newspaper talks about the suspicious odd migration patterns of the animals this year," he started off, his voice soft and silky. It seemed as if he wasn't really taking the time to really think about what he was going to say, he merely said what rolled off of his tongue. "Apparently though, all of the animals have disappeared without a trace. Scientists find this utterly unusual, for all of the animals to merely disappear. There was also… a small herd of deer found dead near the road that exits the city."

Ciel beckoned for Sebastian to pour him some more tea, his eyebrows raised before responding. He was quirked and rather curious by the piece of information that he hadn't heard before. Sebastian had basically summarized the whole article on the front. "Yes," he said promptly. "They say that the animals, even dogs and wolves had met up in the middle of the night, then dispersed. The deer killings, Sebastian, that wasn't in the newspaper, unless you've already have-" He paused for a moment, looking at the butler with a slightly fazed look.

"Already done My Lord," he replied shortly, raising the teapot, placing it back onto the tray. "After reading the newspaper this morning to check for… politics, I decided to investigate myself and find if there was more information. So while I fetched some more food for the larder (for the twelve cats that he had concealed deep within a closet, so his master wouldn't see), I saw some men hauling in deer, that had no bullet wounds whatsoever. Curiously, they had their eyes open too, all of them." Sebastian paused for a moment, and then saw that Ciel looked up at him in a conspicuous way.

"They weren't vacant looks, they had wide eyes, as if the last thing that they saw where the things they feared the most."

"All of them?" Ciel asked, pressing his thin fingers to the desk. "Yes," Sebastian replied grimly, shaking his head from side to side slightly. "I checked, then asked for the location of the road they were found. Apparently, they were found on a stray one, one that was beaten and old. No one had traveled on the path for days…"

"So how old are the deer carcasses?"

"Fresh, my Lord."

"And you say that we might have a new case on our hands? What does this even have to do with us?" Ciel winced for a moment, placing his head between his hands.

"My Lord?"

"Just… Dizzy. I'm fine," Ciel snapped, raising his head abruptly, and then walked away.

Sebastian pursed his lips. "I have been feeling it too, whatever it is." He said, his eyes narrowed, as he wouldn't usually admit this type of thing. Sebastian was never exactly very open, even to Ciel. Whatever secrets he held, he didn't spill.

Ciel raised himself from his desk, and then pressed his fingers even harder to the dark hued desk. His lips were thin, as he began to think of all of the possibilities to all of this madness. His head continued to spin. "Let's go to the place. Immediately."


	2. Chapter 2 His Bulter, Brusque

A/N|| Sorry this took so long! I've had a lot of stuff to do recently. But, this chapter is longer-ish, so hopefully, you all can enjoy this. I'd like to shout out to my first reviewer; to answer your question now, it's somewhat of a realistic fiction, if that makes sense? So yes, something can affect Sebastian and Ciel, and the answer to that shall be revealed in time.

Another shout out I'd like to make is for Suddenjami, who has reminded me to finish the first chapter several times; she is another author in , check out her stories!

Okay, one last thing before you read. Sebastian and Ciel might be a little OOC [out of character] in this chapter. Enough said, go read, enjoy, comment, review, and favorite~

Chapter One || His Butler, Brusque

"You're in charge while we're gone," Sebastian said to the three servants after Ciel was inside of the carriage. _Honestly, I hope that they don't blow the whole manor up…_

"Yes Sir," the three cried in unison, saluting to Sebastian before he turned away and briefly told the carriage person where they would be heading. Soon, they were off.

"Sebastian."

"Yes?"

"You asked me if I was alright this morning. There's something that's bothering me."

"Oh? So you would like to talk about it now, My Lord?"

Ciel's pale lips thinned slightly as he sat back, easing himself into the plush cushions that lined the carriage. "Do you know anything about it?" He asked dully for a moment, before casting a acute glare at the red eyed man. It was quite obvious that Ciel wanted nothing to do with this, yet now he felt even worse, especially after going outside. And yet, he still had no clue of what this was all about.

A small smile curved on Sebastian's pale face before he then spoke. "You see, My Lord, us demons do not waver easily, as you may know already, yet neither of us have been feeling well… This could only mean that-"

Suddenly, there was a bump in the road, and a jolt, until the carriage stopped. With a small sigh, Sebastian rose from his seat, and opened the carriage door. The intensity from the brief conversation dissipated into the air, as Ciel stepped outside, raising his arm to block the sunlight. The reflection from the snow was definitely not helping him In fact, it only intensified the sun's scrutiny.

"Hey, hey you! What do you think you're-"

"Sorry for this miscommunication, Sir, but my Master and I have come to look up on the case of the disappearances," Sebastian said, nodding at the guard that stood outside of the building. He was frowning ever so slightly, though it wasn't very obvious, especially because the shade masked his facial expressions all together. His darker toned eyes were calm, though they held a slight gleam, the somewhat taunting-like gleam that he usually had whenever he was angry, or perhaps slightly bemused.

The guard looked all the more baffled though. "This area is restricted to the Scotland Yard, as they are investigating the crime scene," he affirmed.

"Crime scene?" Ciel asked boredly with a raised eyebrow. Blinking, Ciel then realized that they weren't at the right location. Instead, they had somehow gotten to this place, the square, rather than the abandoned road that led out of the city. So, why were they here?

The guard stared down at the blue haired boy with a slight frown on his face; he looked anything but shocked at this. "The crime scene about the odd animals; there's been another mishap in the last hour or so. I'd advise that you two leave so we can conduct our business. Now run along, this isn't a place for young boys."

Ciel was just about to open his mouth to retort a reply, yet he was beaten. Sebastian stared at the guard for a moment, and then replied," We have helped the Scotland yard on numerous accounts previously. And plus it appears that you haven't found anything yet..." Ciel didn't bother to look up at his butler; he wasn't the least impressed by his butler's skills in his speech; he was still fuming on being called a boy still. "Then let's go, and not dwindle all day," he replied in a bored tone, as he then began to walk forward, brusquely brushing past the guard and further onto the road. After a few steps, he froze, then stared at the sight before him.

In the courtyard before them, were scratch markings, almost like scorch markings, even, all across the ground. The stone ground itself seemed to sizzle, and slicks of oil made the already stagnant air smell horrendous, like a gas-like substance. The air was seemingly frigid all together though, from the still slow that resided in the corners of the square.

"Ah. So it appears that this is the crime scene. Not exactly helpful, now, is it, My Lord?" Sebastian asked as he halted besides Ciel, the corners of his mouth pinched downwards. The butler himself gazed around, with his dark ruby hued visionaries glinting, as he caught sight of the black sludge. With one of his hands, the tall butler then used his index finger, rubbing it onto the ground. When he was satisfied with the black sample he had collected, he rubbed his index finger to his thumb, sniffing the substance. "Oil."

But Ciel ignored him, as he approached one of the corners opposing the entrance of the square. There was something rather peculiar in the snow that glinted, though it was somewhat submerged within the shadows, so that that the glint was only barely seen by those who weren't wary.

Prodding the piece out of the snow, it was revealed to be a small piece of metal, sharp edged and shiny. It clattered upon contact on the ground, sending a high pitched ring throughout the area. Ciel winced slightly, flinching. Sebastian though, came to his master's side as soon as he had seen Ciel prodding at the mysterious object.

"Stainless steel." Sebastian announced with a small frown, as he stooped down to pick up the metallic piece and observe it with such scrutiny. "Such a piece could only mean some type of machine."

"Hey, what do you have there?" An officer yelled across the square, as he sprinted towards the duo. As soon as he halted, he was out of breath. "Oh… T-that's just a… scrap… of some carriage, or jewelry… I'm sure."

"And what makes you say that?" Ciel asked, raising one of his eyebrows, turning to face the man. The young Phantomhive glared at the officer, waiting somewhat impatiently for him to catch his breath.

"There was a ball last night, here, Sirs." The brown haired officer replied, straightening his posture as he recovered from his out-of-breath state. "You see, in this building behind you, there was around two hundred people, around ninety couples attending. The party itself was thrown for the discovery of a sole artifact that no one has ever deemed to find; one of Da Vinci's journals. It was an excellent find. It had been found a couple of months ago, yet it took a long time to recover all of the missing pages. There are still a few missing from the journal."

"Da Vinci's journals, hm? I suppose that it had many inventions within it. It's a very special scientific engineering find." Sebastian commented as he stepped forward, shoving his hand into his black suit pocket.. "Do you happen to have the journal? It would serve very well as evidence."

"Unfortunately, no. The book has gone missing after last night's party, after the attack. It was being carried in a carriage with Mr. Waters and it was encased in a heavily padlocked box. Just as the carriage was about to depart, someone attacked the carriage, leaving it to shambles. Mr. Waters, sadly, did not live. He was taken to get an autopsy after the accident." The officer closed his dark brown eyes for a moment, letting out a huff of steam from his mouth, since the weather still was quite frigid. He was obviously a rookie, as more experienced officers likely would have interrogated the duo on the scene and they wouldn't give out information as easily. "The name is William Larks, by the way. If you need anything else Sirs, please, let me know."

Well, that was certainly unusual, and neither Sebastian nor Ciel needed to sound this out. It was clear that at least the work of this leg of the mystery would be eased. Now, they just needed to get their facts straight and figure out the mystery. "My Lord, I believe that it is time to return to the manor." Sebastian murmured with a simple gesture towards the carriage.

Without another word, Ciel began to walk towards the carriage, with his cane clicking against the ground. Thoughts buzzed in his already aching head, but being strong and proud, Ciel continued on, heading into the carriage, head high. Even after Sebastian noted their farewell to Mr. Larks and sat across from Ciel in the carriage, all was silent except for the groan of the wooden box and the slam of the carriage door.. The carriage jolted forward as the horses began to trot forward, their dark colored hooves clicking against the cobblestone.

Sebastian turned to gaze at Ciel, watching the young head of the Phantomhive family dully toy with the decorative handle on his cane. "Let me see it." He commanded to Sebastian, without looking up.

"Of course." The tall butler replied with a smug smile, as he reached into his pocket, pulling out the small shard of metal. It glinted mysteriously in the dim light that filtered through the cracks of the door. "But please do be careful, my Lord, it is sharp."

With a small snort, Ciel inspected the piece of metal with such scrutiny, that it would appear that he would be having a staring contest with an eagle. An eagle, with a cold steely gaze, with emotionless black pupils, with a yellow copper color fanfare behind it. "It appears to be steel." He finally muttered, agreeing with Sebastian's earlier statement.. "And by the looks of it, it came off of something rather large…"

"-And that is what we must find out. I believe that it must be a part of some machine, perhaps even mechanical. There certainly were oil slick markings on the ground, now wasn't there? That means that it is most likely a machine, one that possesses quite a bit of mobility, and also strength. But obviously, it seems to be a prototype, or else, why would a prefectioned machine be leaking so much oil?" Sebastian murmured out loud, placing his clean alabaster glove beneath his chin.

"-that can only mean that it is a mere prototype, assuming that we are correct about this being a machine."

Ciel nodded silently, his head bobbing up and down slowly. "What are you still doing here? Get going." The teen said demandingly, as his grip continued to constrict around the top of the cane.

"Of course, my Lord." Sebastian said, as he opened the door, and leaped out of the carriage, and disappeared, leaving Ciel alone to his own thoughts.


End file.
